As audiences enjoy the new movie, The Truman
Show, many are impressed by what seems to be its striking originality. But the truth
is, The Truman Show is repeating a story that dozens of other works of popular
fiction have used for decades. It is a story that reveals an essential truth about what is
happening to society in the 20th Century.

What is that truth? In part, it is about how the media and
corporations have begun to surround us with a universe of illusions. From their high-tech
control centers, they increasingly script and stage-manage events, creating the danger
that we will find ourselves living inside seamless works of theater that we mistake for
the world.

Like dozens of characters before him in other works of fiction, the
hero in The Truman Show goes on a journey to escape this realm of smoke and
mirrors. And then he discovers something unexpected -- what he believed was an open
horizon and a way out, is really a wall.

You can examine the movieon these pages, beginning with
The Meaning of The Truman Show
and discover
what it says about our media landscape. Or you can go to one of the other links below,
including a page with details on the story.